An athlete’s body is their biggest asset. They train their bodies consistently, ensuring they can perform optimally without putting excess strain on them. However, the nature of sports makes them much more likely than non-athletes to sustain injuries. Athletes are prone to two main types of injuries: acute injuries, which happen suddenly, and chronic injuries, which develop gradually due to overuse. Some common causes of sports injuries range from incorrect exercise techniques and progressing training intensity too quickly to wearing faulty equipment and aggravating a past injury.
Recovering from sports injuries can be distressing since the process may cause athletes to lose mobility and fall behind in their training. As such, it’s crucial to receive proper guidance while they’re healing to restore as much of their previous abilities as they can. If you're an athlete, here's how you can do just that.
In many sports, an athlete’s body composition matters immensely. Take swimming: here, the density of muscle or fat can impact their resistance in the water. Meanwhile, competitive athletes in martial arts and weightlifting are divided into weight classes. In contrast, runners benefit from having a lighter weight since it puts less strain on their breathing.
Most injured athletes think they need to decrease their calories to avoid gaining weight during the recovery process. However, this can be counterproductive: your energy expenditure, or energy required to maintain essential functions, increases when you’re injured. This causes you to burn more calories. As a result, you'll find that the most effective weight loss plans suggest having a balanced diet instead of decreasing your calorie intake. They encourage going for healthier ingredients instead of withholding from food. This way, you can recover healthily without burning too many calories and compromising the healing process.
When an athlete is injured, they may have limited mobility in the areas that have been affected. That's why recovering athletes must be adequately guided to maximize safety and speed during recovery. In this process, chirorpactic care is helpful. The expertise of chiropractors is useful across all phases of healing since athletes must pace themselves correctly to avoid re-injury. Trying out certain stretches or exercises too early in your healing process can damage tissues, leading to inflammation that worsens the damage.
Physical therapists can assess what pace is appropriate for you. In doing so, they facilitate exercises and treatments to help you gradually regain your strength and movement. They also administer pain management while lessening the need for opioids. Most importantly, physical therapists can educate you on preventing re-injury and caring for yourself outside your therapy sessions.
Injuries cause swelling around the affected area, making it stiff and difficult to move. Chiropractic care targets these difficulties since professionals specialize in diagnosing and treating injuries related to the musculoskeletal system. Chiropractors feel where your muscles have either tightened or gone slack, as muscles in either state can impact the protection of the affected areas in your body. From here, they make adjustments to restore blood flow.
This kind of soft tissue manipulation helps manage pain as it improves muscle balance and removes nerve interference. This can increase movement and strength as athletes recover from their injuries.
Recovering from a sports injury can be stressful and laborious. By observing a proper diet, undergoing physical therapy, and receiving chiropractic care, athletes can ensure that they can recover well and get back to performing at their best.
Article written by: Roane Janison
